Variety

Q: When buying fresh oregano I often find the leaves vary in size as if there are different strains of the herb.Also some of the fresh oregano has a flavor that's almost bitter. How do I know what to look for to get sweet, fresh oregano?A: There are actually seven common varieties of fresh oregano that have different appearances and varying flavor characteristics. Cretan oregano has a spicy and somewhat bitter flavor with gray-green woolly foliage. You seem to have found that this variety isn't your favorite.

R. Alonzo "Lonz" Childress, a civil engineer whose career with the Baltimore County Department of Public Works spanned more than 40 years, died Saturday at Johns Hopkins Hospital of complications from an infection. The Taneytown resident was 72. "Lonz was one of the most pragmatic and even-keeled persons that you'd ever meet. He was good at getting to the bottom of problems," said Brian L. Childress, a nephew who is a civil engineer with D.S. Thaler & Associates. "He always maintained a steady course and never got worked up. He could solve engineering problems without ever getting out of sync," said Mr. Childress, who lives in Perry Hall.

Baltimore's Variety 104.3 has been granted FCC approval to change its call letters to reflect the format change it made 11 months ago.Thus WBSB-FM this week became WVRT-FM, the better to emphasize its "variety" identity tag. And on-air announcements have also begun calling the sound "continuous soft rock," says promotions manager John Pavlos, "to better describe what we mean by the name 'variety.' "However, he said the station's music remains essentially the same as when the station switched last February from its longtime top 40 sound (as B-104)

Tana Hicken, a Baltimore actress and teacher who deftly portrayed a wide variety of characters on stage during a professional career that spanned more than four decades, died Aug. 17 at her home in Sparks of myositis, an autoimmune disorder. She was 70. "I think she was the finest stage actress I've ever witnessed in my life. She was just riveting," said Vince Lancisi, founder of Everyman Theatre , who first saw Ms. Hicken at Washington's Arena Stage when he was a student at the Catholic University of America.

Pity the pear. Somehow it has never achieved the popularity in the United States of that other fall fruit, the apple. Maryland agriculture officials know how many acres of apples are grown in the state, but they don't keep track of the pear crop. The orchards that do grow pears have them in quantities far smaller than apples. Yet this fruit that Homer called the "gift of the gods" brings subtle, fresh flavors to a variety of fall dishes. Poached and drizzled with raspberry coulis, pears make a sensuous and elegant dessert.

Question: Do I need to order both male and female blueberry plants? Someone told me you canÃÂt have just one. Answer: Blueberry plants are self-fertile (each flower has the necessary male and female parts), however you still should buy more than one variety. That's because a blueberry plant produces more berries and bigger berries when it cross pollinates with a different blueberry variety. See HGIC's publication, "Getting Started with Small Fruit." Its chart lists blueberry varieties that flourish in Maryland and it includes bloom and ripening times.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | September 18, 2002

If you are looking for young male demographics, why not do your casting for prime-time headliners in beer commercials? That's the core audience for those multimillion-dollar 30-second celebrations of sex, suds and hyper-masculinity, isn't it? That has to be part of what Fox was thinking when it came up with the concept for Cedric the Entertainer Presents, a new variety show starring Cedric the Entertainer, the heavyset guy in the Bud Light ads who works so hard to get his lady in a romantic mood and then hands her a bottle of beer that explodes in her face.

The L.A. Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics have weighed in on behalf of Daily Variety film critic Joseph McBride in a spat with Paramount Pictures and Variety editor Peter Bart.In a review of the Paramount thriller "Patriot Games," starring Harrison Ford, Mr. McBride chided the movie for trivializing the political situation in Ireland. Paramount protested and pulled all its advertising from Variety. Mr. Bart later wrote an apologetic letter to Paramount, suggesting that Mr. McBride's Irish background had affected his review.

Poinsettia and greens sale is Saturday at Homestead The Union Mills Homestead will hold its 34th annual Poinsettia and Greens Sale and Open House from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday on the grounds at 3311 Littlestown Pike. Poinsettia and other Christmas plants, fresh-cut greens, wreaths and garlands will be available. Three rooms of the historic Shriver farmhouse will be decorated by Alloway Creek Gardens and Herb Farm of Littlestown, Pa., and open free for tours. The gristmill will offer complimentary hot cider and cookies.

New advances in wine technology are great news for people who thrive on variety and experimentation. With more Baltimore-area restaurants adopting an array of advanced wine-dispensing systems - from kegs to devices that allow wine to be poured without removing the cork - it's easier than ever to imbibe without committing to a single bottle. These new systems have a cool factor that makes wine geeks go nuts. But the technology is for more than just show. Implementing these systems translates into more options for customers, cost savings for restaurant owners and environmental benefits for everyone.

Fazzini's Taverna had been open only about six weeks when we visited on a Saturday night. The restaurant, which occupies the old Piv's location on York Road in Cockeysville, was very crowded, with a 45-minute wait for a table if you were silly enough not to make a reservation on a Saturday night. There is a good explanation for the out-the-door crowds. Fazzini's Taverna is just about the most all-around satisfying restaurant I've reviewed in months and months. We had a great meal here, excellent service and a wonderful time.

By Allison Eatough, For The Baltimore Sun and By Allison Eatough, For The Baltimore Sun | July 1, 2014

Each spring, potted herbs and vegetables dot the fire escape of Steve Kelly's home in Mount Vernon. He grows anywhere from six to nine types of peppers, ranging from red and yellow to cayenne and banana. His herbs include basil, tarragon, chives, rosemary and thyme. And then there's the mint. Kelly grows three kinds: orange mint, spearmint and peppermint. He uses them in tea, water and the occasional "adult beverage," he said. "I throw [herbs] in almost everything I make," Kelly said.

Last year, all my tomatoes (all the same kind) ripened all at once and then I didn't get any more. How can I get tomatoes all season? You may have planted a variety of determinate tomato that was not a long producer. Determinate tomatoes grow to a set size and stop, however they usually produce over a long period. (Indeterminate tomatoes, on the other hand, continue to put out new growth all summer.) Your tomatoes also may have stopped fruiting because their location became too hot. When day and night temperatures are very hot, plants overheat and stop flowering and fruiting.

Some show up with pie or casserole, but Baltimore writer Ericka Blount Danois was told to bring her recently purchased "Best of Soul Train" DVDs to her family's Thanksgiving dinner in 2009. When Todd Steven Burroughs, her Morgan State University teaching colleague at the time, also pressed to borrow the DVDs, Danois realized the influential variety show from the '70s still deeply resonated with her generation. Then the wheels began to turn. "There weren't that many shows that showcased black culture in the way 'Soul Train' did, so it was a very big deal for us," said Danois, 42, who lives next to Belvedere Square.

The Little Sisters of the Poor are not monitoring or limiting the medical treatment of their employees ("Little Sisters should respect workers," Dec. 28). Their employees are free to seek contraceptives and abortifacients from a variety of sources at very low cost. They merely do not want to violate their vows and consciences. As is obvious from their lifetime commitments, they take their vows very seriously and there is no compelling need for us to expect them to violate their vows.

By Nancy Taylor Robson and Nancy Taylor Robson,Special to the Sun | March 14, 2004

One fall, a gardening friend and I stood at the edge of my wildlife bed, taking stock of blossom, berry and seed head. "Those are good-looking 'Alma Gordons,' " she observed, running a hand over a mound of shell-pink daisylike chrysanthemums. "They're 'Sheffields,' " I corrected. She shook her head. "Nope. 'Alma Gordons.' " " 'Sheffields,' " I insisted. " 'Alma Gordons,' " she replied, a little testily. We finally checked our records to see if one of us had an original source for the variety name.

By Karen Nitkin and Karen Nitkin,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | December 3, 2000

As Kermit the Frog so famously observed, it's not easy being green. Maybe that's why some of this year's most popular Christmas trees aren't green at all. They aren't alive, either. Instead, they're made of wire, feathers and even paper. And one often isn't enough. These days, there are trees for the table, the mantel, the children's rooms. Whether tall or small, they are clearly gaining stature. Upscale catalogs like Martha Stewart's Martha by Mail and Smith & Hawken feature a wide variety -- from trees so spare and small they look like Charlie Brown designed them to elaborately swirled wire versions that hark back to Victorian days.

Terry McGill, the petite dynamo who owns Jordan Thomas Salon & Spa in Bel Air, has set the bar high for her business: “We want to be everything to everyone,” she says with a laugh. But don't think for a minute, despite that laugh, that McGill isn't serious about Jordan Thomas, which she's owned for 15 years, nurturing it through three locations and always looking for growth opportunities. This year McGill decided to add med spa services to the list of offerings for her clients.

From a ballroom performance show to a discussion on hate crimes with Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, the next two weeks are packed with a wide variety of Baltimore Black Pride events. And they start tonight! With the theme "A New Era: Evolution 2013," this year's events are meant to support the organization's goals of outreach and education within the black LGBT population of Baltimore. They are the first Black Pride events planned under a new partnership between Baltimore Black Pride and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore.